Clinic Services Specialist - Otolaryngology

UIOWA•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

The Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Iowa Health Care is seeking a Clinical Services Specialist to support access, scheduling, wayfinding, and patient services that contribute to effective health care delivery and an excellent patient experience. The role involves coordinating patient appointments, addressing access requests and service issues, advocating for patients, and exercising independent judgment to support the patient experience. The specialist performs reception and scheduling functions, including patient check-in and check-out, scheduling appointments in EPIC, resolving scheduling issues, collecting point-of-service payments and insurance co-payments, issuing receipts, and preparing and closing daily batch reports. The role also supports EPIC In Basket and schedulable-order work queues, email, campus mail, and incoming scheduling and reception communications. Work hours may vary between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. as needed. The position provides frontline clinic support, including preparing pre-registration paperwork, obtaining and verifying pre-authorizations, educating patients about billing and financial responsibilities, reviewing charges, and answering billing questions. It follows scheduling policies, supports scheduling maintenance and provider schedules, and may assist patients with interpretation, accessing care, navigating the delivery system, or resolving service issues. The specialist helps promote service excellence, patient satisfaction and safety, operational quality, staff onboarding, and coordination related to pre-access and financial counseling. Other duties may be assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least 6 months of related experience.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Nice To Haves

Experience in an outpatient clinic setting.
Previous customer service experience.
Experience with hospital operations and/or ambulatory clinic operations.
Experience with EPIC.
Experience with scheduling.
Experience with in-person patient interactions.
Knowledge of University of Iowa Health Care policies, procedures, and regulations.

Responsibilities

Coordinate patient appointment scheduling and prepare pre-registration paperwork for patient visits.
Obtain and verify pre-authorizations and educate patients about billing processes and financial responsibilities.
Review patient charges for accuracy and answer questions about billing procedures and charges.
Follow scheduling policies, provide backup for scheduling maintenance, and assist with provider master schedules, daily templates, and clinic closures.
Perform reception functions, including patient check-in and check-out and scheduling appointments in EPIC.
Assist with scheduling problems and support EPIC In Basket and schedulable-order work queues, email, campus mail, and incoming scheduling communications.
Collect point-of-service cash payments and insurance co-payments, issue receipts, and prepare and close daily batch reports.
Provide patients with interpretation, support obtaining care, help navigating the health care delivery system, and address care or service issues.
Provide high-level customer service to patients, visitors, physicians, clinical staff, and other internal and external customers.
Document and appropriately triage calls and inquiries to support patient satisfaction and safety.
Address patient concerns, provide service recovery, and escalate issues as needed.
Recommend processes to improve patient and customer satisfaction.
Review scheduling templates and recommend improvements related to patient access and clinic operations.
May train students or other staff and support onboarding.
Collaborate with others regarding management of Pre-Access and Financial Counseling.
Attend staff meetings as needed and perform other duties as assigned.